Industrial Rants

Curmedgeonly rants about products, business and design. Why am I so negative? Because I care! I care about the resurgence of American Industry!

Wednesday, April 21

No, I don't want to save 10%

I don't want your store credit card. If I did, I would have signed up. Why do you want to harrass your best customers, those who are BUYING SOMETHING RIGHT NOW by begging them to get your credit card? I know they are big money makers, but it is not worth infuriating your customers. The next time you get asked this at a store, go to the manager and complain.

Thursday, October 30

Amazon.com, stop spamming me.

This pattern occurs quite often: a company I do business with starts sending me unsolicited emails, and then I have to unsubscribe to several different categories of emails. If I unsubscribe to one I get another. Why would I possibly want to get these emails? Amazon.com is the latest to do this. Why would you invite me to immediately lower my opinion of you. Why would you be so arrogant as to believe that I would want these?

Tuesday, September 16

Apple is nickel and diming us.

With the release of the new iPod Touch, you can get a good deal on a refurbished model - $179 at the Apple Store, or so it seems. If you search high and low, you will not find any details on what operating system version it runs. It turns out it is the old version. You will have to pay another $9.95 for the version 2.0/2.1 software. Refurbishing a device should include putting the latest operating system on it. The decreases the difference between the new and refurbished model from $50 to $40.

Sprint Update - Switch to T-Mobile

Update: We got our money back from Sprint. There was mention of an ad containing the purported email address of Sprint's new CEO, Dan Hesse. We sent a message detailing our problem to that address. Coincidentally, we spoke with the first customer service agent who made sense, and was able to see history of our interaction. The Sprint CEO's email address appears to be an attempt to build out a new, parallel, customer service organization. This is definitely the right area for a new CEO to address, but it's too little too late. We are now a happy T-Mobile subscriber.

Thursday, August 21

Sprint Nextel - The Most Evil Company in the Universe

We recently tried to get new cell phone service with Sprint Nextel. We ordered a Palm Treo. Within a few days, we received an empty box, with an expired rebate form in it. We called customer service - the worst customer service in the world, now that communism has fallen in Russia. They said they would send us a replacement if we sent $299.00. Not wanting to send good money after bad, we refused and immediately canceled service to be within the 30 day period. They refused to refund our money for the phone we never received, so we disputed the credit card charge, which Discover graciously handled. Now we are being billed for the phone we never received.

I am taking great joy in the reports of customers leaving Sprint Nextel in droves, and look forward to their bankruptcy filing.

Friday, June 9

NewEgg Rocks

Man, talk about a reasonable response! I was out $13.99 (including shipping) and they credited me $15.00. Expecting me to be negative? OK. TrendNet sucks.

Yeah, yeah, I ordered this before I said I was boycotting rebates...

Reference number: LTxxxxxxx Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with Newegg.com.

Subject: Order # 4xxxx

Dear Kremlach,

Thank you for contacting Newegg.

We sincerely apologize for any delay or inconvenience cause by this defective item matter. We think that the shipping expense is not worth creating an RMA return for this item so we have decided to credit your account back for $15.00 to cover the cost of the item plus the shipping expense. Please allow 3-5 business days for this to be posted. We hope this will reimburse you some for any loss incurred. Please go back online and reorder the item if you wish and you will then receive it sooner than having the original item RMA returned.

Thank you,

xxxx xxxxx

========== Original Message ==========

From: KremlachSubject: Order # xxxxx

This is regarding Order # xxxxxx / Invoice # xxxxx.

I purchased a TRENDnet TEW-424UB USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter. This adapter did not work. I was unable to get an RMA number on your site, I believe because the item was marked as manufacturer warranty only. I have not been able to get an RMA number from TrendNET after multiple attempts. I have since purchased an alternative device which works fine, so the problem is with the adapter, not my computer.

I paid $19.99, and have since received a $10 rebate. So I have paid $9.99 + shipping for something which does not work and I cannot return. I would appreciate your assistance in this matter.

Sunday, April 9

Boycott Rebates

How are rebates ever part of a recipe for good customer service? They ostensibly serve two purposes - they create two pricing tiers, one for those who bother to submit the rebate and one for those who don't. They also discourage returns by making you cut the UPC symbol off the box so you can return it. There is also a third purpose: fraud. A company can benefit themselves by putting inept rebate fulfillment on a rebate so that fewer rebates get processed. I've been having an increasing problem with this lately. Electronic rebates are just as stupid? Why make something that serves no purpose more efficient. Just get rid of it!

How about just plain low prices? Best Buy is going in this direction. More power to them.

For those of you who regularly fill out rebates - you should revalue what your time is worth - I assure you it is more than what it takes to fill out that rebate form.

The only way to combat this is through an organized boycott. Don't buy products that require rebates for you to get them at a good price!

Tuesday, September 6

Stop it with your catalogs already

I am now recycling up to ten pounds of catalogs each week. I don't order from catalogs, I order online. When will you realize that your catalog is antagonizing me, not causing me to buy more? It's wasting your money and my time. If I buy something it does not mean I want more catalogs. It means your message has resonated with me and I want no more catalogs.